Bannack Montana - Gold to Ghosts Ghost Town

Bannack, Montana

The residents were divided on whether or not Plummer was part of the murderous gang. But one night after heavy drinking in a local saloon, the vigilantes decided he was guilty and tracked him down. On January 10, 1864 fifty to seventy-five men gathered up Plummer and his two main deputies, Buck Stinson and Ned Ray. The three were marched to the gallows, where the two deputies were hanged first. According to one legend, Plummer promised to tell the vigilantes where $100,000 of gold was buried, if they would let him live. However, the vigilantes ignored this as they gradually hoisted him up by the neck.

Interestingly though, even after Plummer and several of his henchmen were hanged, the robberies did not cease. In fact, the stage robberies showed more evidence of organized criminal activity, more robbers involved in the holdups, and more intelligence passed to the actual robbers.

Sheriff Henry Plummer was hanged from the very

gallows that he, himself had built earlier in the year.

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Many historians today think that the story of Plummer and his gang was fabricated to cover up the real lawlessness in the Montana Territory - the vigilantes themselves.

By May, 1864, Sidney Edgerton, the territorial Chief Justice decided there were so many people in the area that they needed a new territory. Edgerton convinced the president and on May 26, 1864, it was made official, with Edgerton as the governor. Bannack became the first territorial capital and the Legislature of Montana met in Sidney Edgerton’s cabin.

In the summer of 1864 the numbers of school age children had increased dramatically and the Edgerton home could no longer accommodate the classes. A crude log cabin was built to serve as school teacher, Lucia Darling's school house.

By the fall of 1864, nearly ten thousand people crowded along the area hillsides, living in tents, shacks, lean-tos, and eventually sturdier housing. Settlements were so numerous and scattered that people called the area the "fourteen-mile city." But, for these thousands of people, the gold was already getting harder to find.

By 1866, Virginia City in Alder Gulch was large enough to take the title of territorial capital from Bannack, where it remained until 1877 before permanently moving to Helena.

In the meantime the vigilantes continued their antics and three years after Sheriff Plummer was hanged, the vigilantes virtually ruled the mining districts. Finally, leading citizens of Montana, including Territorial Governor Thomas Meagher, began to speak out against the ruthless group. In March, 1867, the miners issued their own warning that if the vigilantes hanged any more people, the "law abiding citizens" would retaliate "five for one." Though a few more lynchings occurred, the era of the vigilantes was past.

By 1870, there were no more easy diggings in Bannack and within just a couple of years, the population of Bannack shrank to a just a few hundred.

In 1874, realizing the need for a school, Bannack Masonic Lodge No. 16 built the combination lodge and school house. Classes would be held in this building for nearly 70 years.

Masonic Lodge today, July, 2008, Kathy Weiser.

This image available for photographic prints

and downloads HERE!

In 1875, the Beaverhead County Courthouse was built, a building that still stands in Bannack today. In August 1877, the courthouse played a role in one of the most exciting events in Bannack's history, when the town was threatened with an Indian attack. Chief Joseph and the Indians had just defeated General Gibbon at the bloody Battle of the Big Hole. Word reached the isolated community that the Indians were on the rampage and headed straight for Bannack. People from around the area gathered in Bannack to seek protection. Two lookouts were built on the highest points of the hills on either side of Hangman's Gulch for early warning. In case of a siege, the local water supply was barricaded. The women and children were gathered in the brick fortress. Some stories tell of hiding the children in the safes located inside the courthouse. Although the Indians killed four settlers in Horse Prairie, they never came close to Bannack.

Continued Next Page

After Bannack lost the county seat, the courthouse became the Hotel Meade, July, 2008, Kathy Weiser.

This image available for photographic prints and

downloads HERE!

An old barn and wagon in Bannack, July, 2008, Kathy Weiser.

This image available for photographic prints and

downloads HERE!

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